The scripts have always been the weakest element in the films of Tang Yongjian 唐永健 [Kelvin Tong], and so it is in horror movie The Faith of Anna Waters. It’s the Singapore director’s first feature in five years, since his most ambitious production, It’s a Great Great World 大世界 (2011), a likeable heartwarmer that looked at the island republic’s history of the past 70 years. Described by some media at the time as “a Hollywood movie”, Anna Waters is nothing of the sort; though it was shot in English with US leads, and apart from a couple of scenes might just as well have been shot in Chicago rather than Singapore, it’s a majority-financed Asian production. Tang has always turned in professional, good-looking fare, and this is no exception; too bad, then, that the screenplay is a mess and the cast is second rate. Along with his previous film, the hard-driven crime drama Kidnapper 绑匪 (2010), Great World seemed to confim a period when Tang was really trying to break the mould of the local industry. But this latest production is in many ways a retreat to more conventional fare, as well as a return to the supernatural genre that he’s always favoured (The Maid 女佣, 2005; ghost comedy Men in White 鬼啊！鬼啊！, 2007; Rule 1 第一诫, 2008). Though the US leads give the film a slight American flavour, the treatment of the ghostly elements is thoroughly Southeast Asian, i.e. the spirit world co-existing alongside the human one.Aided by cool, clean photography by Asia-based Australian d.p. Wade Muller (Triad 扎职, 2012; Tales from the Dark 李碧华鬼魅系列, 2013; The Last Executioner เพชฌฆาต, 2014) Tang spends time building atmosphere before, as in The Maid, ramping up the FX and physical shocks in the final section, with an OK (if not very original) exorcism finale. But the effect is negated by the blah, uninvolving script, in which the backstory is garbled, the idea of the single world “language” of computer binary code being overthrown like some Tower of Babel is left undeveloped, and relationships are devoid of warmth and conviction. The US leads are wooden and deeply unsympathetic, with Elizabeth Rice (US TV’s Mad Men) cold and barky, child actress Adina Herz way out of her depth as the haunted niece, and Matthew Settle (US TV’s Band of Brothers) given purely functional dialogue in an already rudimentary script. Singapore favourite Peng Yaoshun 彭耀顺 [Adrian Pang] pops up here and there in a nothing role as a Catholic priest convinced the end is nigh. And the whole thing isn’t helped by a feeble non-score by Tang regular Huang Fushan 黄福山 [Joe Ng], plus Chen Sihao 陈思豪 [Ting Si Hao]. The film was released in Hong Kong with the Chinese title 魔念 and in the US as The Offering. CREDITS Presented by Boku Films (SG), Sun Entertainment Culture (HK), Ruddy Morgan Organization (US), PEP Pictures (SG). Script: Tang Yongjian [Kelvin Tong]. Photography: Wade Muller. Editing: Olly Stothert. Music: Huang Fushan [Joe Ng], Chen Sihao [Ting Si Hao]. Production design: Lin Yuwen [Daniel Lim]. Art direction: Wyna Yow. Costume design: Li Wei’en. Sound: William Sim, Huang Fushan [Joe Ng], Ye Zhaoji. Visual effects: Alfred Sim, Jay Hong (Vividthree). Action: Kerry Wong, Surawit Sae Kang. Cast: Elizabeth Rice (Jamie Waters), Matthew Settle (Sam Harris), Adina Herz (Katie Harris), Peng Yaoshun [Adrian Pang] (Matthew Goh, Catholic priest), Colin Borgonon (De Silva, Catholic priest), Darius Tan (Indonesian doctor), Dylan Jenkins (boy with Huntington’s Disease), Sharon Frese (Hawkins, doctor), Wang Shumei [Jaymee Ong] (Marjorie Tan), Rayann Condy (Anna Waters), Prem John (investigating officer), Daniel Jenkins (forensic pathologist), Ella K (young Anna), Augusta (young Jamie), Gus Donald (Danny Crowther), R. Chandran (Ravi Sharma), Chen Qionghua (Charlotte Sharma), Victoria Mintey (Cynthia Crowther), Naomi Toh (Land Authority employee), Crispian Chan (Josh Lim, artist), Qi Fei (May Wong), Paul Lucas (Nigel Crowther), Shane Mardjuki, Elizabeth Lazan Tan, Marcus Mok (dinner guests), Xu Youmei [Janice Koh] (Subterfuge CEO), The Faith of Anna Waters is a 2016 American-Singaporean horror film starring American actors Elizabeth Rice and Matthew Settle and directed by Kelvin Tong. Billed as Singapore's first Hollywood supernatural feature, the film tells the story of an American journalist who travels to Singapore to investigate the mysterious suicide of her sister, and delves into one of Tong's favourite horror subgenres: exorcism. The film was released on 6 May 2016 in the United States under the title The Offering. Plot[edit]Jamie Waters, a police detective in Chicago, receives news that her sister Anna has committed suicide in Singapore. Jamie flies to Singapore and moves in to Anna’s house. Rather than go and stay with her father, Anna’s young daughter Katie is insistent that they do not leave the house because her mother has promised that she will return in seven days time. At the same time, the Catholic priest Father De Silva encounters a series of cryptic symbols that indicate that the Tower of Babel is rising again. As Jamie investigates other apparent suicides by people connected to Anna, she encounters increasingly spooky happenings all around the house. Cast[edit]
Reception[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 8% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3/10. Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine rate the film .5 over 4 rating and wrote: It inspires retrospective gratitude for the empty yet slick craftsmanship of someone like James Wan. Andy Webster of The New York Times gave the film a negative review and he wrote: Kelvin Tong’s "The Offering," a muddled horror film, falls over itself incorporating as many genre elements as possible. The result is the cinematic equivalent of combining every paint color on a canvas: a murky mess. Distribution[edit]The film has been bought for distribution in France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. In Mexico the film was scheduled to have a theatrical release on July 8, 2016. |
